Quote Originally Posted by cfred View Post
Don't forget that you can adjust your rates to absorb the fees. I would expect that everyone who joins will do that. It's also tax deductible. I think your point about parents looking to Coop affiliates is probably accurate. We already see that (to some extent) with the current agencies. However, a lot of agency care is, according to parents I've talked to, not all that awesome for the simple reason that the providers aren't left with enough money to reinvest in their businesses. I think that plays against the Agency sector's popularity. I just put together a video presentation of ICP care with submissions from all over the province. I can say that there are some amazing, AMAZING home daycares out there! Made me quite proud of our industry, actually There will always be people who think licensed is the bees knees, not really understanding the system. Once a coop is in place, and we can preserve our autonomy while bringing in the appropriate oversight, I would think parents would absolutely take that into consideration and competition will be just that much stiffer. Or I could be completely wrong.
Do parents really want us increasing our rates again?? Many providers have already done this due to Bill 10. How high can we go before parents can't even afford a home daycare? A lot of parents choose a home daycare because the cost of centres can be outrageous. My rate currently is very average, even slightly below average... When I get contacted by parents, quite a few say they can't afford my rate as it is now, especially if they have more than one child. Becoming a part of the co-op and having to increase our rates could make us have even more trouble filling our spaces. Parents think child care is too expensive as it is.